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Squirrels and other friends

We love our new little house. It is surrounded by large trees, which makes it feel like a holiday cabin. This is of course aided by the many hours of sunshine California so generously provides. One of the great things about this place is the outdoor space, not just for us but also for the local wildlife, consisting mainly of squirrels, spiders, recently a rat couple, and the thing that lives under our deck…

The squirrels hang out in the back yard (sharing it with the mysterious deck dweller), the rats are considering the front yard and we live in between. The spiders just live everywhere.

I have only spotted the cute rat couple twice from the kitchen window and it looks like they are still dating. Perhaps they are considering the next step in their relationship, in which case I’m not worried as there is much more sought after real estate in this area than the shed in front of our house. This is downtown Palo Alto after all.

The spiders use any opportunity to build a web (they are Silicon Valley spiders, enterprising types) and I seem to constantly walk into their silk no matter where I am in or around the house. Honestly they most be the most stubborn insect on earth. Imagine having your house wrecked every day by some giant, even though I try not to wreck it wherever possible as I prefer spiders to bugs and I’m not that much of a clean freak.

The squirrels are the most entertaining of our new friends. They run on the roof, around the trees in the back yard, occasionally venture out on the deck, and regularly show us their balancing tricks on top of the fence whilst carrying food or chasing friends. They really liked the outdoor solar lights we put up recently, to the extent of trying to eat them (in fairness they do look like apples). Apparently squirrels are considered a bit of a fire hazard since they love chewing on electrical wires but lets hope they will stop at munching on the outdoor lights.

The other day something odd yet amusing happened on the squirrel front. As I was standing in the kitchen I heard some banging noises. I assumed it was coming from next door, where they have been renovating, but as I walked into the living room I saw something repeatedly throwing itself against the patio door. I initially thought it was the neighbors’ cat gone possessed as this cat has sat in front of the door before, staring at me through the glass in a most creepy way. On closer inspection however it turned out it was a squirrel doing the mad jumping. As soon as he spotted me he ran off. There was at least one other guy nearby and it felt as if the crazy one had just completed a dare because the two of them raced into the trees like mischievous kids.

Curious about this incident I tried to find out if this was a sign of something ominous, but perhaps it was just one of those days for that squirrel as the only other odd behavior I found on an online forum was this one: “We have a one eyed squirrel that comes up to our back door. He never knocks”. And apparently raccoons act weird too as another person commented: “We had a raccoon knock on our back door once and then put his paws up around his eyes to peer inside”. Funny (haha as well as peculiar).

Let’s hope this was just temporary squirrel insanity and they’re not going to have another go when the patio door is open. Oh, and they better stay away from my tomatoes.